Paternity Suit Stuns Irate Manley

CARLISLE, Pa. — Dexter Manley was relaxing in his Dickinson College dormitory room late Saturday night, preparing to go to bed and barely paying attention to the late news on television.

But suddenly, as if a firecracker had gone off next to him, the Washington Redskins' defensive end was jolted wide awake.

"A member of the Washington Redskins has had a paternity suit filed against him by a Houston woman," the announcer began.

Manley began listening intently as the announcer continued.

"Dexter Manley ..."

As soon as he heard his name, lights began flashing in his head, his mind began racing, and his pulse rate accelerated.

"I thought I was going to have a heart attack," Manley said Sunday afternoon.

"I mean, my blood pressure shot through the roof."

Manley immediately tried to place a call, the phone didn't work, and in his state of distress "I cussed out my roommate (Raven Caldwell). I yelled at him to fix the damn phone."

Manley said he knew Ruby M. Lair, the Houston woman who recently filed a paternity suit claiming he is the father of her 11-year-old twin daughters.

Manley said he knew she was pregnant 11 years ago when both were seniors at Yates High School in Houston.

But Manley, who refused to say whether he dated or had sexual relations with the woman, said he doesn't think he is the father of the girls.

Manley believes he's being set up.

"I've made out pretty well as a football player," he said, "and she's probably had a lot of other boyfriends.

"Because I've been successful, though, maybe I'm the right kind of guy to claim is the father of her kids. If I was a bum on the street, this wouldn't have happened."

Manley said he feels like baseball star Dave Winfield and former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

Both had paternity suits filed against them, and both were by Houston women.

"I don't know what it is about the women in Houston," he said. "I guess the girls in Texas look at this stuff (paternity suits) as the Texas State Lottery. Times are pretty bad down there, I guess."

Manley said he remembers Lair from high school.

"I remember her being pregnant," he said, "but I think she was dating a twin, or something. I wasn't her boyfriend. I haven't talked to her since high school, and I wouldn't know the first way to get in touch with her now.

"I was in Houston over the weekend and a friend of mine, Gerald Franklin, said he saw Ruby and they talked a little. He said my name never came up."

When asked if he had ever dated or had sexual relations with Lair, Manley said, "I won't answer that." But he said he would take a blood test to prove the children aren't his.

Dexter and his wife, Glinda, have two children: son Dexter Keith, 5, and daughter Dalis Joy, 4. He has another son, Derek Keith, who was born 12 years ago.

"The only child I acknowledge having (outside his marriage) is Derek," said Manley.

Manley said he phoned his wife Saturday night after hearing about the paternity suit.

"I told Glinda and, well, she wasn't too pleased to hear this," said Manley. "She said I shouldn't have screwed around at a young age, and I told her I only did what little boys do.

"Look, it's been 11 years and I don't need this now. This is not the kind of press I'm looking for. I came to camp excited and looking forward to playing."

Sunday morning, Manley had banged on the dormitory walls in an effort to ease his frustration. "The walls got the best of me," he said.

Sunday afternoon, he tried to ease the frustration by talking.

"I refuse to let this eat me up inside," he said. "I'm talking to you about it, and I won't let it get me down. You're helping me by listening to me talk."

The paternity suit is the latest in a long line of misfortunes that have plagued Manley in July.

In 1986, he engaged in a bitter contract dispute and missed most of training camp; in 1987 he sprained his knee in the first scrimmage and didn't return until October; and last year he received a 30-day suspension in July from the National Football League for substance abuse and missed the entire exhibition schedule.

"I guess July just isn't my month," he said.

In addition to talking about the paternity suit and Julys, Manley, whose bicycle ride was interrupted by this reporter, sat on his bike for nearly an hour and gave a rare, in-depth look at himself, his life as a celebrity, and his fears about life after football.

"I've said this before, but I only play football because it's on television," he said. "If it was on radio, I wouldn't play.

"I've got to have people around me. I need crowds. People get off on different things, and this is how I get off."

Manley, whose outspoken nature and outrageous statements have gotten him in trouble with his coaches in past years, said he wished he didn't play a team sport.

"I would want to be a tennis player if I could live my life over," he said. "I have an individual sport mentality.

"In football, I've got to worry about what the other knuckleheads (teammates, coaches) think. I can't say everything I really want to say.